Rod and cone pathway signalling is altered in the P2X7 receptor knock out mouse

KA Vessey; EL Fletcher

Journal article

Rod and cone pathway signalling is altered in the P2X7 receptor knock out mouse

KA Vessey, EL Fletcher

Plos One | PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE | Published : 2012

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029990

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Abstract

The P2X7 receptor (P2X7-R) is expressed in the retina and brain and has been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases. However, whether it is expressed by neurons and plays a role as a neurotransmitter receptor has been the subject of controversy. In this study, we first show that the novel vesicular transporter for ATP, VNUT, is expressed in the retina, verifying the presence of the molecular machinery for ATP to act as neurotransmitter at P2X7-Rs. Secondly we show the presence of P2X7-R mRNA and protein in the retina and cortex and absence of the full length variant 1 of the receptor in the P2X7-R knock out (P2X7-KO) mouse. The role of the P2X7-R in neuronal function of the retina was asse..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Kirstan Vessey Author

Erica Fletcher Author

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Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia (No. 566815 to ELF), and with grants from Retina Australia and the Macular Degeneration Foundation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.